Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

It’s a time of change for the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights (WWRHAH) Community Coalition, which met Tuesday night at the Southwest Library to discuss issues and to talk about the group’s future.

As previewed here, it was the last WWRHAH meeting to be led by coordinator Kim Barnes, who is stepping down to focus on other endeavors such as her work to make Delridge Triangle a safer and more usable space for the community, as well as involvement with Roxhill Park along with her fulltime job. She said it “has been an honor to serve our community” and would still be available and ready to help answer questions in the future.

Attendees thanked Barnes (and gave her a hearty round of applause) for her two years of service leading the group, which she has led since Amanda Kay Helmick (who also ran for City Council) stepped down. Although nobody in attendance on Tuesday night signed up to immediately lead the group (at least one person expressed potential interest), several attendees pledged to attend the next two already-scheduled group meetings at Southwest Library on the first Tuesdays of the month (July 2 and August 6) and to see how things go. Group members also committed to keep the WWRHAH email list active, and Barnes noted that their website and Facebook page would remain accessible and would just need someone to maintain it.

Departing WWRHAH coordinator Kim Barnes with Roxhill Park volunteer Scott.

Neighborhood news from the meeting:

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Tuesday night, whoever shows up at the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meeting will help decide how it will change. Coordinator Kim Barnes is stepping down. Will anyone step up?

Please join us on Tuesday, June 4th, 6:15 pm upstairs at the Southwest Library, 9010 35th Ave SW.

After two years of coordinating and hosting meetings for WWRHAH, it’s time to relinquish the role to new faces with a fresh vision. At the June 4th meeting, I will be happy to answer questions about the routine tasks and outline the support tools and documentation. The community will then decide how if it wishes to proceed with the appointment of a new coordinator, or if it will adjourn until a new coordinator is identified. This meeting is open to anyone interested in the future direction of WWRHAH.

It has been an honor to serve our community.

(Southwestern side of Roxhill Bog, 2014 WSB photo)

From Roxhill Park to the Delridge Triangle, public spaces are part of our toplines from last night’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meeting:

BOG PROGRESS: WWRHAH and other community advocates have worked for many years to get action for Roxhill Bog in Roxhill Park, which is compromised by hydrology problems (as outlined in a report we published in 2014). Now there’s word of progress toward getting a study funded, with the first step being outlining the scope of work.

ARTS IN THE PARKS: WWRHAH’s Kim Barnes said a grant from this program will help make the recently announced World Music Day happen this summer. She’s hoping it will be a multicultural celebration as well as a music festival.

DELRIDGE TRIANGLE: The next step in improving this public space is a community workshop on March 23rd, as announced last month. Details of the Saturday morning event at Highland Park Improvement Club are expected before week’s end; other events will follow this spring as community participants plan the space’s future.

POLICE UPDATE: Southwest Precinct operations commander Lt. Steve Strand says crime in the area is down so far this year; police are continuing their emphasis patrols at Westwood Village. Strong-arm robbery is the current focus, because – as precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis mentioned at the recent West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meeting – teens are getting targeted for their phones. The suspects also are juveniles, he said, adding that some arrests have been made.

OTHER RECENT MEETINGS: Recapped were the Southwest Design Review Board meeting for the 9201 Delridge Way SW self-storage project (WSB coverage here), attended by Barnes, and the February D-1 Community Network meeting (WSB coverage here), attended by WWRHAH’s Eric Iwamoto.

The Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meets first Tuesdays most months, 6:15 pm at Southwest Library (9010 35th SW).

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council continues to evolve.

Co-chair Kim Barnes says it’s now meant to function as more of a “support group for committees” – each one, small now and hoping to grow, taking on a particular area of interest. If any are of interest to you – or if there’s something else you’d like to help make happen in the area – jump in!

Among those areas of interest discussed at this month’s WWRHAH meeting:

ROXHILL PARK: The recent kickoff meeting for getting Roxhill into the Park Commons project went well. This would be a two-to-three-year project, Barnes said, “for us to develop ways and means” – some through assistance, some through guidance – “to create more interactive activities in the areas of the park that are less utilized and need ore positive activities in them.”

Read More

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Some promising news emerged on multiple fronts at this month’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meeting.

CRIME DROP: WWRHAH was briefed by Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith. The area covered by this community group, he said, has had 56 incidents in tracked categories compared to 119 a year earlier. That includes one fewer robbery, one more aggravated assault, 7 crimes against persons compared to 5 – but property crime is down dramatically – one more burglary, one more commercial burglary (3 compared to 2), but larceny (much of it shoplifting) is down dramatically, about a fourth of what it was. Also: 15 car prowls compared to 17, 8 car thefts compared to 13. 49 property crimes in all – less than half it was at this point last year. Police continue working harder to get repeat offenders kept in jail – including for example making sure the “(law enforcement) objects to release” box is checked on reports.

The subject of the arrest of officer-assault suspect Jorge Cruz-Benitez two nights earlier came up; he was allegedly first spotted doing graffiti vandalism in the area (Delridge/Henderson). Lt. Smith echoed what we noted in a previous discussion, that not all tagging is gang-related. (This meeting was on Tuesday night; one night later, on Wednesday night, Cruz-Benitez was released from jail, according to the KC Jail Register.)

(Southwestern side of Roxhill Bog – WSB photo from 2014)

ROXHILL PARK AND BOG: WWRHAH has been pushing forever to get the bog water-flow fixed –
here’s an extensive report we published in 2014 – and is making progress. Your involvement can accelerate things. First:

Read More

(Common Merganser, photographed by Mark Wangerin)

From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, for the rest of today/tonight:

PEDESTRIAN PLANS: The agenda for this afternoon’s meeting of the City Council’s Sustainability and Transportation Committee – 2 pm at City Hall downtown – includes a discussion of the Seattle Pedestrian Master Plan 2018-2022 Implementation Plan and Progress Report, with planned dates for projects here and citywide. (600 4th Ave.)

BASKETBALL: Chief Sealth International High School‘s varsity teams both have Metro League qualifier games – 4:30 pm, girls at Roosevelt (1410 NE 66th); 7:30 pm, boys at Lakeside (14050 1st Ave NE).

DINE OUT FOR SEALTH: 4-8 pm at Marination ma kai @ Seacrest – part of the proceeds go to Chief Sealth International High School‘s PTSA! (1660 Harbor SW)

CAFE MIA’S FIRST WINE TASTING: 5-8 pm at the new café in The Junction, wine tasting with nibbles. Info in our calendar listing. (4310 SW Oregon)

WESTWOOD-ROXHILL-ARBOR HEIGHTS COMMUNITY COALITION: 6 pm at Southwest Library. Tonight’s agenda includes:

6:00-6:10: Short Community Announcements/Quick Discussion Items

6:15- 6:25 pm: Lt. Ron Smith, Monthly crime stats update, recent incidents discussion.

6:30-7:45 pm: Coalition Committee Planning

Update! Roxhill Park Bog Wetland meeting with SPU – next steps with grant funding
Roxhill Park Community Programs kickoff meeting is Feb 27th – outreach plan.
HALA: FEIS New neighborhoods that have joined appeal, City-wide community meetings have started, fundraising outreach/ City’s Special Committee Hearings.
Design Hearing – 9201 Delridge on Feb 15th @ 6:30 pm
EC Hughes (Roxhill Elementary) playground grant
Neighborhood Matching Fund deadline
SW Crime Prevention Council – January meeting update

(9010 35th SW)

HIGHLAND PARK ELEMENTARY KINDERGARTEN PREVIEW NIGHT AND TOUR: Got a kindergartener going to Highland Park Elementary next school year? Or thinking about it? Be there tonight at 6:30 pm. (1012 SW Trenton)

WEST SEATTLE BIKE CONNECTIONS: 6:30 pm monthly meeting at HomeStreet Bank (WSB sponsor) in The Junction. (4022 SW Alaska)

FREE LEGAL HELP: 7-9 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle – set up an appointment in advance; here’s how. (4217 SW Oregon)

The Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition usually meets on first Tuesdays – but not tonight, given the proximity to the holidays. However, WWRHAH is helping coordinate these two special upcoming community discussions that you’re encouraged to be part of. First – imagine more events in Roxhill Park!

(2016 WSB photo from ‘Blood Wedding’ performance in the park)

On Tuesday, January 9, from 6:30 to 7:30 at Southwest Library, we’ll join Parks Commons and Arts in Parks Coordinator Randy Wigner to discuss ways Roxhill Park could be a good location for this program. The goal of the Parks Commons Program is to develop community capacity and civic engagement in event production, and the program is assigned to parks that experience long-term public safety issues and where those issues would be improved by increased community use of these parks. We’ll discuss park needs and if the program is a good fit.

Next – looking ahead to the RapidRide H Line, but not about the buses or routing:

On Thursday, January 18, community members and kids are invited to join artists from Oakland’s WowHaus studio for a discovery walk to help inform art projects coming to our neighborhood as part of the redevelopment of the 120 into the Metro Rapid Ride H line. Around 2:30 pm, we’ll meet at Roxhill Elementary under the main entry awning, then walk over to the 26th and Roxbury stop and hop on the 120 bus to the stop at Trenton and Delridge (so bring your bus fare). Members of the public can also meet at between 3:30 and 4 at the corner of Delridge and Henderson (where the largest concrete triangle is located in the right-of-way), and join the walk from there. What ideas do you have? Join us and share! Learn more about our selected artists here.

Quick toplines from this past Tuesday night’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meeting at Southwest Library:

CRIME TRENDS: Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith said a major problem in the area – shoplifting at Westwood Village – is down significantly, after months of emphasis patrols. (More on that in our upcoming Southwest District Council report.) SPD’s work at Westwood will soon be enhanced by an observation station.

SAFETY: WWRHAH member Earl Lee reported that the long-awaited lighting of the bus stop across Barton from WW Village is up and working:

(WSB photo, added Thursday night)

HALA UPZONING APPEAL: As reported previously, WWRHAH is participating in the citywide coalition that is appealing the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed upzoning in the city’s HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability plan. The coalition is now awaiting hearing dates, planning to go door to door to talk with neighbors, and raising money for legal help.

NO GENERAL MEETING IN JANUARY, BUT … Since the first Tuesday is the day after New Year’s, no general WWRHAH meeting until February. But watch wwrhah.org for TBA details of a January 9th meeting about Roxhill Park.

(Western Grebe, photographed by Mark Wangerin)

Community involvement, music, and more – here are your highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar and Holiday Guide:

PRESCHOOL ENRICHMENT: 10:30 am at Neighborhood House High Point, work on story drama with Seattle Children’s Theatre! More info in our calendar listing. (6400 Sylvan Way SW)

HOLIDAY LUNCHEON: Senior Center of West Seattle members’ holiday luncheon. 11:30 am. If you’re not preregistered, check to see if there’s room. (4217 SW Oregon)

LIGHTS! With dry weather, it’s a great night to see the lights. Including:
–Menashe Family Lights, on at dusk (5605 Beach Drive SW)
–West Seattle Lights, synched to music, 5-9 pm (3908 SW Charlestown)
–West Seattle Yuletide, synched to music, 5:30-9 pm (east side of 38th SW between Genesee and Dakota)

JUSTIN KAUSAL-HAYES: Acoustic hits of the last four decades at Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor), 5-8 pm. No cover/minimum. (1936 Harbor SW).

WESTWOOD-ROXHILL-ARBOR HEIGHTS COMMUNITY COALITION: New start time for WWRHAH’s meetings, 6 pm (since there’s a mandatory end time, 7:45 pm, as the library’s closing). Tonight’s agenda:

Short Community Announcements/Quick Discussion Items
6:15- 6:25 pm: Lt Ron Smith, Monthly crime stats update, recent incident discussion.
6:30-7:45 pm: Coalition Committee Planning
-Roxhill Park Wetland meeting with SPU
-Roxhill Park community programs interview with Randy Wagner, 1/9 @ 6:30 pm
-HALA, FEIS Appeal status/ community questions/ legal fundraising kickoff
-Delridge Triangle improvement grant
-DNDC meeting report back
-No WWRHAH meeting Jan 2, 2018
-Crosswalks/Pedestrian Safety YV/YC grant funding
-H line- DNDC
-Other announcements

Upstairs meeting room at Southwest Library. (9010 35th SW)

WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY ORCHESTRAS: 6 pm at Chief Sealth International High School, the Debut Orchestra and new Percussion Ensemble in a free concert!

Donations accepted. (2600 SW Thistle)

WEST SEATTLE BIKE CONNECTIONS, LOCATION CHANGE: 6:30 pm meeting this month is at Luna Park Café! (2918 SW Avalon Way)

MADISON MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND CONCERT: 7 pm in the school commons. (3429 45th SW)

BASKETBALL: 7:30 pm at Chief Sealth International High School, boys-varsity game vs. Nathan Hale HS. (2600 SW Thistle)

MORE … on our year-round Event Calendar and seasonal Holiday Guide!

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Outside of 911 calls when there’s trouble – what resources can police offer you to address chronic crime/safety problems?

A primer of sorts was presented at Tuesday night’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meeting, led by co-chair Kim Barnes.

The discussion started with Joe Everett, who is the (relatively) new City Attorney’s Office liaison to the Southwest Precinct. He explained that the position is meant to “address chronic problems as they are emerging … before they turn into really big incidents.”

Read More

Live, work, study, shop in Westwood, Roxhill, and/or Arbor Heights? Be one of the neighbors making things happen via the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition, which gathers Tuesday night, 6:15 pm at Southwest Library. Neighborhood safety is a big topic for tomorrow night, with guest speakers Community Police Team Officer John O’Neil and Southwest Precinct city-attorney liaison Joe Everett, who will talk with you about “empowering the community and leveraging city resources to deal with chronic neighborhood issues” such as abandoned houses (with or without squatters) and problem houses. Also from SPD, Operations Lt. Ron Smith will have the area’s newest crime trends/stats. And lots of “quick discussion items” (see them all in our calendar listing – and bring your own!). Just go to the upstairs meeting room at the library, which is at 9010 35th SW.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The fall neighborhood-meeting season kicked off with the September session of what’s now the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition.

Kim Barnes and Jenny Rose Ryan are interim co-chairs of WWRHAH; Barnes led Tuesday night’s meeting at Southwest Library.

At the heart of this meeting was a “focus group”-style conversation about crime/safety issues in the area, to be sure its micro-community policing plan is up to date:

Read More

No daily highlight list today because of the stabbing coverage, but crime and safety are at the center of one major event tonight we want to be sure you know about: The Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meets at 6:15 pm at Southwest Library (9010 35th SW). Major agenda item: If you live/work in any of the WWRHAH neighborhoods, your feedback is needed in a fact-finding session about the local micropolicing plan – Southwest Precinct research assistant Puao Savusa will be there to hear from you (see the questions here). Also expected, SW Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith with an update on area crime stats. WWRHAH also is scheduled to hear from City Council candidate (at-large position 9) Pat Murakami. And open-discussion items include the future RapidRide H Line as well as the recently announced cut to the Chief Sealth Walkway Improvements Project (our original report is here, and followup here), plus other area pedestrian safety/accessibility issues. See the full WWRHAH agenda here. (And see other listings for today/tonight on the frequently updated WSB West Seattle Event Calendar.)

Toplines from tonight’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council meeting:

HALA REZONING: The draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Mandatory Housing Affordability component of the city’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda is expected to be published Thursday. That’s what WWRHAH heard tonight from Morgan Community Association‘s Cindi Barker, who was on the original city-appointed HALA focus group and has been helping educate other community advocates about land-use issues including this one. With the draft EIS coming out this week, the comment period will continue into late June. She was asked if there’s talk of a District 1-wide response to HALA MHA, but so far individual groups are pursuing individual responses related to how it might affect their neighborhoods – MoCA for example is pursuing a comprehensive-plan amendment and is asking the city to engage in a full neighborhood-planning process, given the conflicts between MHA and the MJ neighborhood plan.

ROXHILL BOG: WWRHAH continues trying to get the city to address hydrology issues that have compromised the bog. Rory Denovan wrote to Seattle Parks but said the response so far wasn’t helpful. Meantime, a celebration of Roxhill Bog is planned 11 am-3 pm June 17th, with information and activities.

ROXBURY RECHANNELIZATION: As reported here earlier in the day, SDOT is floating further rechannelization options for SW Roxbury in connection with the 2019-or-so repaving between 16th SW and 35th SW. WWRHAH is concerned about the possibility that most of the center turn lane will be removed. They’re considering asking SDOT for data on the lane’s usage.

CRIME TRENDS: Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith said car prowls in the WWRHAH-covered area are down by about 50 percent from this time last year. Residential burglaries are down too. Shoplifting is up, and that figures heavily into stats for the area, because of Westwood Village.

WHAT’S NEXT: While WWRHAH won’t have its regular first-Tuesday meeting in July, since that’s Independence Day this year, they’ll likely have a special meeting just before or after that to talk about a response to the forthcoming HALA draft EIS.

The big news from last night’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council meeting goes with the notebook pictured above: It’s full of contacts, cards, agendas, and other documents gathered by Amanda Kay Helmick, who has stepped down after four years of leadership with the group. Mat McBride is with her in our next photo – the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council chair who helped shepherd WWRHAH into existence:

(Here’s our report on WWRHAH’s first meeting in February 2013.) Eric Iwamoto has co-chaired WWRHAH with Helmick recently, and Kim Barnes has taken on a major role, especially regarding the Westwood-Highland Park Urban Village’s destiny with HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning, and other land-use issues, but the group hasn’t yet decided its leadership path forward. They’ll talk about it next month – when the major topic is expected to be the HALA MHA draft Environmental Impact Statement, due out soon – and they’re also planning a door-to-door campaign to reach people who might not have heard about WWRHAH.

Along with HALA, another major issue is how – whether – the future Delridge RapidRide H (Route 120 is converting in 2020) will relate to/engage with the area. Helmick said she had been trying to reach Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s office and SDOT to get some key questions answered and so far had nothing but what she called “radio silence.” Here’s what she had sent:

At the WWRHAH meeting on Tuesday, our group made it very clear to SDOT that they needed to clarify their role in upgrading the 120. Specifically, SDOT needs to clarify whether it is planning the route, ie; removing / consolidating stops, or working on the pavement, roadway and pedestrian improvements.

Therese Casper from SDOT acknowledged the need for collaboration between SDOT and Metro on the routing issue. Metro has a known process for surveying their riders to find out where they are going, how far they have to walk, etc. Doug Johnson of Metro, who was at the meeting, acknowledged that is has been several years since a 120 survey was taken. We would like see SDOT start the collaboration by requesting Metro have the survey done before the design phase begins.

We also cannot stress enough the need for SDOT to consider the HALA/MHA upzone proposals in the Westwood Highland Park Urban Village. Currently, the 120 does not run through the heart of the Westwood Highland Park Urban Village. The folks in the Highland Park are cut off from bus service because of this, and the upgrade does nothing to rectify that. Comparably, the C Line, runs along California Ave SW specifically because of the Urban Village instead of taking the faster route along Fauntleroy Way.

Lastly, without significant attention paid to improving the ingress/egress to the peninsula, it doesn’t matter how fast you can get from Roxbury to the bridge. The City must find a way to improve this situation.

WWRHAH has been working on issues surrounding Metro and the impacts of bus service to the community for 4 years. We have seen very little in the way of solutions for our area, but we see the Move Seattle Levy as an opportunity to do something amazing that will improve mobility, connectivity and livability for an area that is under served.

Also at last night’s WWRHAH meeting:

CRIME UPDATE: Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith said Westwood Village is still having shoplifting issues, and the precinct continues to work with management to get some structure in place that will allow police and businesses to work more efficiently in tackling the project.

COUNCIL CANDIDATE: City Council Position 8 candidate Dr. Hisam Goueli came to the WWRHAH meeting, mostly to listen to and learn about the area’s issues.

Transportation was front and center. Among other topics – Dr. Goueli mentioned he’s a doctor, and promptly was informed that West Seattle is without a hospital. He’s one of 10 candidates currently in the running for the citywide position that Councilmember Tim Burgess currently holds but is not seeking to keep.

WWRHAH needs you more than ever – and you’ll find them at 6:15 pm first Tuesdays in the upstairs meeting room at Southwest Library, 35th SW/SW Henderson.

While the transformation of Metro Route 120 into the RapidRide H Line is three years away, major decisions are being made now, and this is the time to bring up concerns to SDOT and Metro, both leading the project because city dollars are helping pay for it. Since the new planning phase revved up last month, the West Seattle Transportation Coalition (WSB coverage here) and Delridge Neighborhoods District Council (WSB coverage here) have hosted discussions/briefings. And this week, it’s the centerpiece of the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council agenda (6:15 pm Tuesday, Southwest Library). The WWRHAH agenda says the discussion with SDOT/Metro reps will include “mobility issues surrounding the Westwood Village ‘transit hub’ and the Westwood/Highland Park Urban Village.” All are welcome; the library’s on the southeast corner of 35th SW and SW Henderson.

(Southwestern side of Roxhill Bog – WSB photo from March 2014)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

It’s been three years since the then-fledgling Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council put out a call for help with the issues threatening Roxhill Bog, historic headwaters for Longfellow Creek. The bog had been a community concern for years before that, and underwent some restoration, but needs help beyond what community stewardship and work parties can offer. That was one of the topics brought up at WWRHAH’s meeting last night when City Councilmember Lisa Herbold – in her second year in office – sat down for a conversation, the centerpiece of a meeting that touched on other topics too: Read More

Tuesday night was not much of a night for meeting-going, with slush and ice still on the roads, but hardy executive-board members Amanda Kay Helmick, Eric Iwamoto, and Kim Barnes were at the Southwest Library for February’s meeting of the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council, as were guests Lt. Ron Smith of the Southwest Precinct and Jordan Lowe from startup Josephine.com. Over the course of an hour, here are the toplines of what they talked about:

SOUTHWEST PRECINCT UPDATES: Lt. Smith said the Parks Department was cutting more vegetation by the Roxhill Park bus stop earlier in the day, to increase visibility to reduce crime and other problems. (Helmick mentioned that Metro is getting close to permits for the long-requested lighting alongside the park and is now projecting installation in March.) Businesses in the area are contacting police more often about problems. Then, area crime stats – “a huge increase in vehicle thefts” lately, especially Arbor Heights, Lt. Smith said. Six more than the area had seen by this time last year. But they’ve been making arrests, too. And car prowls are down, as are residential burglaries and robberies. So far this year, there’s been one non-residential burglary in the area, compared to none last year.

HALA REZONING: Barnes has been birddogging this and says that because turnout was low for November’s little-publicized Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda-related Community Design Workshop for the Westwood-Highland Park Urban Village meeting was so anemic, the city Office of Planning and Community Development has offered to have another meeting for this area. It’ll be March 1st at Highland Park Improvement Club, start time TBA. They’ll go over notes from the November meeting and get into more details about how to provide community feedback on the proposed rezoning.

JOSEPHINE.COM: Jordan Lowe from Mount Baker was an invited guest to talk about this startup, which “allows home cooks to sell food to their neighbors.” He is one of those cooks and said he uses it as supplementary income. “I pick what I want to cook, how much I want to charge, put it on the website, people come and pick it up. … Over the last couple months we’ve been growing a lot in Seattle.” All cooks need to have a food handler’s permit, he said, and the company pays for it if necessary; they also check out the cooks’ kitchens. He went into some of the details. So far, West Seattle has “three or four people” who are going through the application process. Yes, there’s a catch – “we operate in a gray area,” as Lowe put it when we asked – the meals have to technically be considered “events” by health authorities rather than people making and selling food for purchase. The company started in California and expanded to Portland and Seattle.

NEXT WWRHAH MEETING: Councilmember Lisa Herbold is scheduled to be at the March WWRHAH meeting. The discussion of the group’s direction also has been moved to that meeting (6:15 pm, Tuesday, March 7th, Southwest Library, 35th SW/SW Henderson).

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The proposed rezoning for the Housing Affordabiity and Livability Agenda‘s Mandatory Housing Affordability component was a major topic for the two community councils who have met this week in advance of tonight’s city-organized 2-location “open house” about that rezoning, and more.

First was the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council, which met Monday night at the Southwest Library. Feedback on the rezoning plan comprised most – but not all – of the night’s discussion; later in this report, you’ll see toplines from other topics including a big change in WWRHAH leadership as well as an SPD update on crime trends.

Back to HALA rezoning:

One member observed toward the end, “The scary part of this is that the majority of the community has no idea about the tidal wave that is headed their way.”

That was a reference to the shortage of direct city communication – no briefings or announcements directly explaining “this is the rezoning we’re proposing in your area and why” – since the draft rezoning maps appeared online in October.

In recent weeks, community groups have taken to organizing their own discussions of those maps in hopes of at least helping neighbors comment effectively – pro, con, or otherwise – online and at tonight’s open house (5:30-7:30 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW, and Shelby’s, 4752 California SW).

The rezoning is focused on the city’s long-designated “urban villages,” as well as multifamily/commercial property in all areas. Read More

6:15-6:20: Introductions & Community News:

6:25-6:35: Committee & Neighborhood Council Updates

Metro Committee: Amanda Kay Helmick
Infrastructure Committee: Chris Stripinis
Bog Committee: Rory or David
Roxhill Park Committee: Amanda Kay Helmick
DNDC/CNC/SWDC: Amanda and Eric

6:35-7:40: HALA and the MHA Component for the Westwood/Highland Park Urban Village. We will be discussing the proposed Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) zoning rules for our area. We will answer questions as best we can, but all feedback should be directed to the City.

There are several ways to give feedback, and each gets equal weight. If you can attend a meeting, make comments on our online dialogue platform, or write to HALAinfo@seattle.gov, we will consider all input we receive.

Weigh in online at https://hala.consider.it
Email to HALAinfo@seattle.gov
Talk to us in person on December 7 at Shelby’s Ice Creamery on California from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

There are still at least two steps in the process to implement Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA):
Environmental review is underway and will help guide changes to the draft zoning proposal.

The City is gathering community feedback until February. Sometime after that, the Mayor will send a proposal to make zoning changes that put MHA into effect to the City Council for their review and vote.
7:45: Wrap Up: Breakdown the room; library locks up promptly at 8pm.

Tomorrow (Monday) night, the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council meets, and you’re invited. We have added the full agenda to the meeting’s listing on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar; major items include another update on the action plan resulting from July’s Find It, Fix It Walk, and a look ahead to Green Seattle Day volunteering on November 12th. The meeting starts at 6:15 pm, upstairs at Southwest Library (35th SW/SW Henderson).

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Two months after the Westwood-Roxhill Find It, Fix It Walk with Mayor Murray and a platoon of city employees, has anything been “fixed”? That was the biggest item – and the final one – on the agenda for this month’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council meeting.

FIND IT, FIX IT FOLLOWUP: Lemmis Stephens and Laura Jenkins, working with the city via AmeriCorps, came to WWRHAH for the followup. Here’s the report they brought:

Jenkins pointed out that pages 7-9 show which projects were awarded grants – one of the neighbor groups, at 22nd and Henderson, will have one more work party this Saturday, and, as reported here a week and a half ago, have been paid a visit by overgrowth-munching goats: Read More

Want to see change in your neighborhood? One easy way is to jump in with the people who are already working on it – but can’t do it alone – your all-volunteer community council. Next West Seattle group to meet is the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council, 6:15 pm tomorrow (Monday, October 3rd), at Southwest Library (35th/Henderson). Agenda items include following up on July’s Find It, Fix It Walk (WSB coverage here) and information about the new Westside Neighbors Network. See the full agenda preview in our calendar listing – and if the issue that interests you isn’t featured, show up and speak up!